𝐖𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃, charles leclerc

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧, charles

❝ we don't pray for love, we just pray for cars. ❞
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

FP1 kicks off, and the first thing I notice as I pull out of the garage is how much I've missed this race weekend feeling.

As I roll out of the pit lane, I focus on settling in. My first lap is slow, getting the tires and brakes up to temperature. I weave a bit down the straights, feeling the grip build slowly with each corner. The track is clean, not much rubber laid down yet, so I take it easy, pushing a little more each lap.

The first 20 minutes of the session are all about finding the rhythm. I'm working with the team, getting feedback on how the car feels under braking, in the corners, on throttle.

Every time I pass the start/finish line, my engineer is in my ear. "Balance check, Charles. How's the front end?" The car feels good in the high-speed sections, a bit understeery through the tighter corners, but nothing too alarming. We'll work on the setup when I box.

The tire compounds we're using today are softs and mediums, so I switch to the softer rubber about halfway through the session.

The grip is much better now, and I can feel the car coming alive.Through the fast chicanes, the rear is planted, and I start carrying more speed through the corners. Each lap, I'm braking a bit later, pushing a bit harder, confidence building in me.

The session isn't just about me, though. It's about the car, the setup, and gathering data. I know the engineers are tracking every lap, every turn of the wheel, analyzing how the car reacts to the changing conditions.

It's not just about putting in a fast lap time, but understanding how the tires degrade, how the car behaves in different parts of the track, and where we can improve for the rest of the weekend.

The radio crackles again. "We're bringing you in, Charles. Let's make a couple of changes to the front wing." I bring the car back into the garage, and for a few minutes, I'm sitting there while the crew adjusts the setup.

I'm focused on the data coming in, checking where we can improve. They change the front wing angle, adjusting for the understeer I mentioned earlier. After a quick chat with Xavi, my engineer, I'm back out.

With about twenty minutes left in the session, I head out on another set of soft tires. This is where I can really start to push.

The car feels more responsive, and I'm attacking the corners harder, braking later, and getting on the throttle earlier.

By the end of the hour, I've put in enough laps to get a solid understanding of where we stand. I'm not too focused on the timesheet — not yet.

FP1 is all about building the foundation for the weekend. But seeing the car near the top of the timesheets does give me some confidence. It's still early though, and tomorrow's going to be when the real work starts.

As I pull back into the garage at the end of the session, I feel good. There's always more to improve, always more to learn, but the car feels competitive.

We've gathered a lot of data, and now it's up to the team to make sense of it and get ready for FP2.

I climb out of the cockpit, pulling off my helmet and gloves, knowing there's still a long weekend ahead, but today was a good start.

We barely have a couple hours before FP2 and I can already start to feel Mattia's orders from now till then. I walk to the pit-wall where they should be.

Xavi shakes my hand firstly and nods, giving me a boost that it's going well. For now, at least. I climb up and join them as Matia and our race strategist share a conversation.